First Lady tours Windhoek Central Hospital Cancer unit

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta took time off her busy schedule in Windhoek, Namibia to visit health facilities in the city.

The First Lady is in Namibia attending the 8th Stop Cervical, Breast & Prostate Cancers in Africa (SCCA) Conference which ends Tuesday.

She toured Windhoek Central Hospital’s Dr. Bernard May Cancer Care Centre and Pediatric Oncology ward. She was conducted on the tour by Dr. T.R Kauluma and Sister Barbara Gariseb of the hospital’s cancer unit.

The Cancer Care Centre, named after its founder Dr. Bernard May and the Pediatric Oncology department of the hospital handles between 80-85 cancer patients daily.

Namibia has adopted Nuclear Medicine technology as an integral part of cancer diagnosis and management. The technology is applied in health care in the assessment, treatment, management and prevention of diseases.

Nuclear medicine is a branch of radiology used to diagnose and treat certain cancers, such as brain, breast, kidney, bladder, thyroid, liver, lung and bone cancers among other diseases and involves administering small amounts of radioactive material to a patient by injection, inhalation, or pills.

The First Lady, who was accompanied during the tour by Namibia’s Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services Mrs. Petrina Haingura, also visited Namibia University School of Medicine.

The School of Medicine which opened its doors in 2010 has a population of 364 trainee Medical Doctors and is headed by a Kenyan, Prof. Peter Nyarang’o who is also the Founding Dean.